How to start a sober life? Sober Living: Basic Principles, Motivation, and Benefits of Sobriety.

Drinking people are often in one stage or another alcohol addiction. Or they are close to the fact that the love of alcohol has become a pathological addiction. However, alcoholics often deny their inclinations, refuse to admit problems, and refuse to receive treatment. Many of them are very categorical in their judgments: “Don’t drink at all? How then can you relax (celebrate, go to the stadium, meet friends, live)? The benefits of sobriety are not clear to such people.

There are other people too. They don’t drink, but are only held back by an ampoule sewn under the skin and constant pressure from their relatives. The benefits of sobriety in this case are hidden behind constant dissatisfaction with others and the current way of life. But those who consciously gave up alcohol feel the full benefits of such a decision.

The benefits of sobriety: health, freedom, life

What does a person do when he drinks alcohol? Does it lift your spirits, get rid of stress, “flush your kidneys”? There are many explanations. But from a medical point of view, a person simply harms himself. Alcohol, especially strong alcohol, irritates the mucous membranes internal organs, disrupts work digestive tract, overloads the liver and kidneys, stupefies the brain. Of course, your mood lifts and your problems seem insignificant. However, all this is felt only in a drunken stupor. Over the years, new ones come: alcoholism, illness, degradation and death, often painful and humiliating. Perhaps, against this background, it’s worth thinking about and understanding what the benefits of sobriety are:

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How to come to a sober life?

If you could just say: stop drinking, and that’s it. At the second stage of alcoholism, it is almost impossible to eliminate alcohol from life by volitional effort. This is available in earlier stages of the disease. But first a person must admit that he is addicted and sick. But not everyone is capable of this.

If there is the slightest possibility, then relatives of an alcoholic should at least try to return the person to a sober life. And this should not be done with reproaches, screams and threats. It is necessary to show maximum tact and patience in order to dependent person made a conscious decision to get treatment and subsequently never drink again.

It is also important to know the signs of all, including preliminary. In the early stages of the disease, a person is still able to realize that he is falling into addiction and fight it. Later, reason and will degrade. If each of us clearly understood the threat, many could stop before irreversible consequences occur.

Experience in treating addicts shows that the most effective method is a 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous

The most important thing to fight is not the addiction to alcohol itself, but its causes. Many people do not think about the fact that alcohol does not help to rejoice, does not remove complexes, does not solve problems and does not relieve grief. All the effects of alcohol are illusory. A person simply slides down to a primitive level of thinking and ceases to perceive the real picture of his own life.

Here's something else you should think about. If the desire to “drown” problems can somehow be explained, then pouring alcohol over the joyful events of life is incomprehensible in principle. Really good points do not themselves bring happiness? However, even pregnant brides spend one of the brightest days of their lives with a glass of alcohol in their hand, and feasts next to the baby’s cradle are even more common. Alcohol traditions, all kinds of gatherings in which huge doses of alcohol turn people into their likenesses, are one of the main reasons for rampant drunkenness.

Some are talking about tightening alcohol laws and introducing new penalties. However, prohibitions do not stop all people and not always. Sobriety will become a way of life for most only when positive attitude people's attitude towards alcohol will be replaced by a negative one, and the benefits of everyone without alcohol will be obvious to everyone.

Attention!

The information in the article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute instructions for use. Consult your healthcare provider.

Being drunk often leads to many problems - with health, mental health, relationships with loved ones and family, with work, creativity and self-realization. Let's look at what sobriety is, what aspects it consists of, and why it is important.

What is sobriety

Sobriety is a permanent abstinence from using alcoholic drinks. In rare cases, this concept refers to “moderate” alcohol consumption.

In societies such as Alcoholics Anonymous, etc., sobriety requires the presence of a number of conditions - for example, achieving life control and balance.

What is sobriety

IN recent years An active struggle for sobriety began in Russia. Many temperance societies and movements arose. According to VTsIOM surveys, since 1996 the proportion of the population leading a sober lifestyle has increased by 7%.

Attitude towards sobriety different religions different. So, in Orthodoxy it is moderation in the consumption of food and drink, Islam completely prohibits alcohol, like Hinduism, and Judaism welcomes it in moderation.

What is drunkenness?

Drunkenness or alcoholism is chronic disease, during which a person becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages (from the point of view of both the psyche and physiology). The disease is characterized by loss of control over the volume of drinking, an increase in consumed doses, damage to internal organs, and memory loss.

According to WHO, in 2000 there were 140 million alcoholics in the world.

Why sobriety is beneficial

Complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages is the norm. Regular consumption of alcohol is harmful to both the health of the body and the psyche. IN advanced stages Irreversible processes begin, so it is necessary to give up alcohol as early as possible.

By the way, a comic sobriety test has appeared on the Internet, which can reveal the level of adequacy of your perception of reality (https://meduza.io/quiz/test-na-trezvost).

Let's consider the impact of alcohol on human health and life from three aspects.

Physiological aspect

  1. Alcohol contains ethyl alcohol - only its amount differs in different drinks. So, beer contains 5% ethyl alcohol, wine – 9%, and vodka – 40%.
  2. The ability of alcohol includes its ability to dissolve fat. When ingested, it is absorbed through the gastric walls, and from there passes into the blood.
  3. Red blood cells, which carry oxygen in the blood, in the normal state of the body repel each other, since each of them has a charge with negative value. Their sizes are suitable precisely for passing through the smallest vessels, feeding all the cells of the body with oxygen.
  4. Penetrating inside, ethyl alcohol dissolves the fatty membrane of these cells. As a result, they are attracted to each other and form large lumps that begin to move throughout the body. The moment they reach vessels that they cannot pass through, they clog them, and the cells die in the absence of oxygen. The brain suffers especially in this regard.
  5. Neurons, or brain cells, build long-term sequential chains in which human memory is stored. When large lumps of red blood cells clog blood vessels, resulting in neurons not receiving enough oxygen, their entire chains begin to die out. Because of this, after the holidays, people often forget how yesterday went, and during a long drinking binge, many events disappear from their memory.
  6. At the same time, some clogged vessels burst due to excessive pressure, which is reflected in a reddened nose or eyes, and one of the negative effects of alcohol is deterioration of vision. Even if you drink alcohol in small quantity, but regularly, this process still occurs.
  7. Soon the dead cells in the brain rot. To remove all this, the body pumps large volumes of fluid into the head, and the person wakes up the next day with a severe headache and wild thirst. Then the rotted cells are eliminated from the body on their own.
  8. A similar process occurs in other organs. Drinking alcohol causes irreparable harm, reduces immunity, and this leads to constant diseases. It doesn’t matter whether a person drinks alcohol moderately or regularly and in large quantities, the harm will be the same.
  9. Alcohol is especially harmful to women, since their bodies are designed for procreation. In men, sperm renewal occurs every three months, and a woman is given a supply of eggs once in her entire life. The eggs are under reliable protection, but the only thing that can penetrate the lining of the ovaries and harm them is ethyl alcohol. Therefore, drinking alcohol negatively affects the health of not only the woman herself, but also her child.
  10. As for men, alcohol not only affects their reproductive functions, but can also negatively affect potency. Some people mistakenly believe that alcohol increases their desire, but it should be really small - no more than two glasses per evening. As for chronic alcoholism, in the case of it sexual desire almost completely disappears.

Psychological aspect

  1. Drinking alcohol slows you down mental processes: a person begins to perceive reality more slowly and worse, loses touch with reality, and experiences difficulty concentrating. He constantly forgets about his planned activities, plans, promises, and perceives the world differently from what it really is. Soon sobriety becomes an unusual state for a person, as if he were lacking something.
  2. Alcoholics experience sudden mood swings, logic in thinking disappears, events cause inappropriate reactions, ability to work and productivity decrease, problems with creativity, imagination and abstraction from the surrounding reality appear.
  3. Often, a drunk person feels as if those around him are entering into some kind of “conspiracy” against him. As a result of such inappropriate reactions, clashes and fights often occur in clubs and other similar places.
  4. A person who regularly drinks alcohol develops insomnia. Regardless of the number of hours he spent sleeping, the next morning he does not feel fully rested. Dreams become frightening, tense, gloomy, plots revolve around assassination attempts, attacks, intimidation.
  5. Chronic alcoholism leads to mental disorders– for example, to hallucinations (both visual and auditory). Often there is a desire to jump out of a window to escape a non-existent threat, or to start waving a knife. Relatives turn into enemies for the patient, and in this condition he needs emergency hospitalization.
  6. Ultimately, moral prohibitions disappear, and a person becomes capable of committing unthinkable acts - for example, theft, murder. Work and family become secondary, which leads to deterioration of relationships, scandals, divorce, and loss of social connections. Parental drinking has a negative impact on the quality of life of children.
  7. In addition, alcoholics often experience speech disturbances and characteristic changes in gait. If a person falls into a prolonged state of unconsciousness, bedsores will occur, which can lead to death.

Sobriety has undeniable advantages

Managerial aspect

There is a theory according to which government officials and other authorities prefer to keep silent this problem. In some ways, alcohol is a way for them to reduce intellectual abilities population and their life expectancy.

Therefore, it is necessary to take responsibility for your own life into your own hands. The main reason people use to justify drinking alcohol is to relax and forget about daily problems and responsibilities.

But in reality, there are many other ways to unwind that do not lead to such harm to your health. In addition, you can arrange your life in such a way that there will be fewer and fewer reasons for wanting to get drunk and “forget yourself.” And if you remember that drunken state does not solve the problems, but aggravates them, then you are unlikely to want to resort to this method next time.

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Hello friends! Many of you who have decided to take the first steps towards a sober life for the first time are asking the question: “What will absolute sobriety give me and what are its advantages?”

Since this is the Diary of a “former” alcoholic, I’ll try to describe my condition in a few sentences, that is, the advantages that a conscious sober life gave me. This may not be everything, but it turns out that:

I'm in a good place physical fitness, and if the ideal weight and body condition is still far away, then I try. There is still a lot to be done and accomplished. Sobriety gives you the opportunity to control yourself.

I can get behind the wheel of a car at any time without fear of being “caught” by the guys and I am not bothered by the “exhaust”. This is a problem for all drinking motorists.

I can be where they drink alcohol and leave any time I want. Once again, I celebrate all holidays with normal human eyes and don’t poison myself with a toast “to health,” after which many become “unhealthy,” to put it mildly.

I still have real friends with whom I enjoy spending time and who support my sobriety, and not drinking buddies with whom I drank a lot in my life.

All misunderstandings at work related to alcohol, which previously caused problems, are completely eliminated. serious problems, resulting in the traditional lack of money, the search for new partners and orders.

I soberly and adequately assess any life situations; because of some, I would have simply grabbed a glass earlier.

There is no problem of “Friday-pitnitsa”, days off on “Mondays” and the like. I wake up every morning with a clear head and thoughts about the day ahead, and not hungover.

So that after a hard day, I don’t pour the drink into myself, but sit down to watch good movie, eat ice cream and marshmallows, drink green tea, I walk down the street, keep a Diary and or stupidly lie on the couch, listening to calm music, knowing that this will not bring me headaches and physical hangover suffering, but will give my body the opportunity to recover.

Sober, I began to notice almost all the hidden and subconsciously influencing the brain propaganda of alcohol consumption, which pours into the consciousness like a river from everywhere: television, radio, newspapers, etc., I really understand the scale of all this action and am convinced of the correctness of my decision - to live sober .

I'll digress a little. The other day I watched a film of four episodes, marked 12+. I decided to relax and have fun at the same time. From the first episode, I started counting episodes “with a glass in my hand or a bottle of alcohol on the table.” So: I counted 16 long episodes for the entire film, 4 per 40-minute episode, that is, one “drunk” episode per 10 minutes. A bit much, you know, for a film 12+.. :-) Well, that’s true, by the way. I will continue:

I have normal relationships with all my relatives, who, to be honest, just recently simply gave up on my once frequent drinking bouts and told me to go to hell.

I easily make new acquaintances and it has become easier for me to communicate with people on any topic.

I believe that my risk of contracting some serious disease is much lower than that of drinkers. And I haven’t been sick with anything serious for a long time... ttt :-) Only if I was tortured last year, but this is from another song, not related to alcohol. Although no... if I hadn’t drunkenly lifted weights, but used tools for this, I might not have gotten a herniated disc

I don’t have those time periods when I can do something and when I can’t. This applies to any matter, whether urgent or not. When you're hungover, all you want to do is drink! Or so that this condition stops as soon as possible, at least for a while. All thoughts are about one thing - alcohol.

Well, and most importantly - literally!!! Freedom from addiction.

These are the advantages of my sober life. Yes, this is only a small part that fit into one post, I’m writing quickly, but if you sit and think, there will be another one.)

Friends! Don't fool yourself by looking for an excuse in alcohol! Life is beautiful and it should be created by you, not 100 grams of alcohol. You need to deal with stress in your right mind, and not entrust this task to a drunken dope! Your task is to learn to perceive soberly the world around us and reality. Once you accept this, you realize that many things in life could be done by you, and not by alcohol for you.

Understand this and start living again, from scratch. After all, if you woke up in the morning, it means you are alive, capable of changing for the better and experiencing all the advantages of sobriety. Get started today! I sincerely wish this for you.

Good sobriety and health to everyone!

Hello, dear friends, you are on the website. Happy reading! The so-called drinking culture in Russia dates back several centuries. Since childhood, we have been taught the simple truth that it is simply not decent to refuse alcohol when visiting. Despite this, a sober lifestyle is actively promoted and even exists in our country. What is he like?

A truly sober lifestyle is a complete abstinence from alcohol altogether. No low-alcohol cocktails, no glass of champagne New Year. Unfortunately, in the understanding of most Russians, a teetotaler is a former alcoholic who is currently in recovery.

By leading a sober lifestyle, you are already improving your health:

After all, even one dose of alcohol significantly changes the function of liver cells. Systematic alcohol consumption leads to obesity of liver cells, and this is a direct path to hepatitis.
  • Healthy kidneys. All liquids we drink, including those containing alcohol, pass through the kidneys. With regular alcohol consumption, the kidneys are forced to work in “emergency mode” all the time. Constant intoxication of the kidneys leads to a deterioration in their functioning; more toxins are retained in the body, which creates a favorable environment for viruses and bacteria.
  • Less likely to get gastritis and stomach ulcers. First of all, alcohol enters the stomach and destroys its mucous membrane, which leads to the development of first gastritis and then ulcers.
  • The condition of the lungs improves. It would seem that what does alcohol have to do with it? Alcohol vapor accumulates in the lungs and is expelled through breathing, while destroying lung tissue and drying out the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. The immune system weakens, which leads to the development of tuberculosis.
  • Healthy heart. Statistics say that more than a third of all people with heart disease are drinkers. Like other organs, the heart, when alcohol enters the bloodstream, is forced to work harder, which leads to increased blood pressure. This leads to the destruction of capillaries, causing cardiac vascular diseases in young people.
  • Good brain work. Our brain is sensitive to any irritant, and alcohol is no exception. Blood clots that appear due to alcohol consumption clog blood vessels. Oxygen access to brain cells is cut off and they die. Thus, the cerebral cortex is destroyed.
  • Simply giving up alcohol will help, if not completely protect you, then at least reduce the load on your vital organs. Not to mention that a sober lifestyle will allow you to look at the world from a different perspective. From a sane, self-care person.

    P.S. Tell other people about it! Add an article to social media! Thank you!

    Video on the topic!

    Here! My train of sobriety has reached another milestone, another marker, an intermediate station whose name is “”!

    To simply say “good” is to say nothing. It is imperative to document this state and talk about what good happened to me during this short, by astronomical standards, time.

    I realized that it was better and of higher quality than with him. Why? Yes, if only because I can do what I had been meaning to do for a long time, but didn’t do because of my drunkenness.

    I was able to go to the “alpine skiing”, although I didn’t manage to ski, only bagels, but I don’t regret the time spent with my friends. I also spent my birthday, after which I calmly continued to work without falling into the abyss of binge drinking. I can safely buy some things and gifts for loved ones, treat myself with something. I began to be outside more often and where I enjoy skating.

    I am confident in the future, even if it is not entirely successful. I know that everything will be fine in the end, no matter how bad it is now. In a state of melancholy or, more often than not, just melancholy out of nowhere, I have no desire to run to the store for a bottle and drink it as quickly as possible in order to forget myself and get away from problems.

    At such moments, I try to switch from thoughts about drinking (although, to be honest, there were no such thoughts) to something pleasant and useful. For example, sports or, if the weather does not permit, writing articles for your blog, which, firstly, takes a lot of free time; secondly, the alcohol-free cells and cells in my brain (which are known to do unthinkable things) give me good food for thought.

    People who are interested in my topic began to come to my site, some see themselves, others do not want to repeat what they read. It’s just that they don’t comment much on something, but I think this is a temporary phenomenon. Friends, comment, your opinion is important to me so that I can build on something in subsequent posts.

    During the existence of the site, many articles have been written and for now, I’ll probably finish the “scientific articles” and pay more attention to my state of sobriety. The topic of quitting smoking is very interesting, I will try to convey to you all the thrill of getting rid of this - such a dangerous addiction.

    A few words about my health. His condition, for six months of sober life , much improved. I began to sleep well. Without falling into an alcoholic sleep, namely to sleep, seeing good dreams! My appetite has improved, there are no frequent headaches, my vestibular system and blood pressure are returning to normal.

    The legs do not pull and cramp as much as on the days of recovery. I started doing a little exercise in the morning and dousing myself in the evening. cold water in the shower. In short, as doctors say, there is a positive trend!

    What else? Coins jingled in your pocket - business relationships improved. Clients who, as it seemed to me, had given up on me for a long time began to contact me again; due to constant breakdowns into the abyss of binge drinking, everything became smooth with old and regular partners. In general, on cool head, it turns out that solving work and personal issues is much easier and more interesting, they begin to treat you somehow differently, in a special way or something.

    New ideas begin to ripen in my head that I want to bring to life as soon as possible! And in general, in a sober state it became not so embarrassing to appear in public as before, when it seemed that the whole world around you knew about your spree and was laughing behind your back. Now there is none of this, I just want to live and enjoy life, do something new and useful!

    Relations with family have normalized. There is peace and tranquility in the family, although not always, but this is rather a question of a woman shaken by alcohol, which also needs to be put in order. My mother, who celebrated her 70th birthday this year and last year underwent a serious operation, finally breathed a calm sigh and calmed down, seeing that her unlucky offspring had finally come to his senses and was not drinking!

    This is how it turned out brief overview my sober half a year. Few? Well, what can I say... although it’s the first pancake, it’s not lumpy. I don’t even remember when I had one like this long term sobriety, maybe 5-10 years ago (if you don’t count my first coding which was a very long time ago)…

    Honestly, I don't remember! The main thing I know is that I'm going to in the right direction, which I would like to wish to you who are reading this article.

    Stop drinking!

    It doesn’t matter in what way, the important thing is as quickly as possible! You will see HOW THE WORLD around you WILL CHANGE! The truth is, you won’t regret your decision – I certainly didn’t!

    And if you don’t drink, then don’t start – it’s a one-way ticket (to the next world)…

    Good sobriety to you!